pairing: ChenLay
length: 1746 words
A/N: This is set in the same universe as my story, A Year to Remember. However, you don't need to read that one in order to understand this short side story. It is perfectly fine to view this as stand-alone and only read this.

--

“Executive Lieutenant Key and Young Master T.O.P are waiting.” A short, muscular man opened the tall steel door that was emblazoned with a symbol depicting a red triangle encircled by a black snake whose fangs dripped blood. He bowed slightly with his arms gesturing towards the inside of the office.

The smaller male was sitting behind his dark mahogany desk, looking through several files. The taller male was sitting in a large, black leather armchair near the desk, marking up the papers attached to the clipboard he was carrying. The room was lit with the characteristic blue-flamed lanterns that illuminated the entire warehouse, but it was much brighter in here than it was in the hallway. A dark maroon rug sat in the middle in the room, slightly flattened from the dozens of people constantly walking over it these past few years. Famous paintings, including The Starry Night and The Persistence of Memory, were hung around the room in golden frames. Two wooden chairs, made of the same mahogany material, were placed in front of the desk.

Chen and Lay both sat in the empty chairs, looking up at the Executive Lieutenant who had put down the files in his hands upon the two younger males’ arrival. “I know the two of you just came back from your assignment in Russia, but we have an emergency.” Key nodded to T.O.P, who stepped up from his seat.

The tall male silently handed over a pale blue sheet to both of the boys, who immediately began reading the case.

Objective: Kill Jeon Jiyoon and Kim Heechul

Reason: Lee Donghyun, the former boyfriend of Jeon Jiyoon, has contracted us to assassinate his ex-girlfriend and her current boyfriend, Kim Heechul, citing that they have stolen several items worth over one hundred thousand dollars as well as taking three million dollars in cash from him. As Lee Donghyun is one of our contacts to the black market, we shall honor his request on the condition that one million of the stolen three million goes to us and that we are given half of the stolen items. Lee Donghyun has agreed to the conditions set and is allowing our master thieves to retrieve the stolen goods as well, further cementing his trust in the mafia.

“As you can see, this is going to funnel in quite a sum of money that we can use for future operations,” T.O.P added once the pair finished reading the paper containing the details of their mission. “Lee Donghyun has given us twenty-four hours to complete the task, since he received intel that they are trying to leave the country tomorrow afternoon. He wants them dead before they can escape, so we’re giving this mission to you two. Most of our other assassins are busy with other assignments.”

“Not to mention, you two are the best assassins we have now that my stupid little sister left us, so I expect to see results by tonight. If Lee Donghyun does not call me by midnight, saying he has both Jeon Jiyoon and Kim Heechul’s bloody heads with him, then both of you will face severe consequences.” Key narrowed his eyes as he gazed at the two emotionless boys before waving his hand to dismiss them. “Taeyang, bring them to Yesung,” he ordered curtly into his microphone, calling the bodyguard back into the room.

The short male entered the room and bowed quickly, saying, “Yes sir. Is there anything else you need?”

“Once you’ve brought them to Yesung, come back here. T.O.P and I are going to meet with the Brazilian branch tonight, so we need extra security. Suho and Eunhyuk are on stand-by as well, so we’ll all go together once you’ve returned,” Key answered briskly before picking up the files he had been perusing earlier.

Taeyang nodded and led the two assassins out of the office, firmly closing the steel door behind them. The three mafia members walked to the elevator that was stationed on the fourth floor, stepped inside, and traversed down to the second floor. Once they finally reached the weapons room, Taeyang bowed to Chen and Lay before taking his leave.

Chen quickly rapped his knuckles against the cold, steel door that was identical to the one for Key’s office. Lay stood motionlessly beside him as they waited for a response.

“Oh, it’s you two. Back already?” Yesung opened the door and looked at his visitors in surprise.

“New mission,” Chen answered brusquely as he and Lay followed the weapons master inside. “We have less than twelve hours to complete it.”

Yesung shook his head in disbelief as he punched in his access code for the gun safe. “I’m glad I’m not either of you. It’s stressful enough dealing with the black market brutes and getting them to pay me on time.”

Neither Lay nor Chen said anything in response. They weren’t here to make small talk. They had a job to carry out. Yesung left them to choose their arms, saying he had some cataloging to do. He didn’t need to be there to recommend what guns the two assassins should use for their assignment. They had been on enough missions to know which ones were their favorites and which ones were useful for certain situations. Lay immediately strode over to the sniper rifle section, picking up and loading an AWP. Meanwhile, Chen looked over the assortment of pistols, shotguns, and rifles before deciding to grab a M4A4.

After they left the weapons room, they headed down to the warehouse basement which doubled as a parking lot for the Korean branch’s headquarters. Chen revved up the engine of their shared black Tesla Model S and then drove out into the streets of Seoul. Lay typed their destination into the navigation system and they speedily headed towards Jeon Jiyoon’s residence.

--

“Do you see them?” Chen asked as he thoroughly cleaned his rifle. The two assassins were perched on the rooftop of a nearby building, wearing dark brown outfits that blended in with the dark brown tiles of the roof.

“Not yet,” Lay answered as he looked through the scope of his sniper rifle. “But they are definitely inside. Thunder ran the plates for me and confirmed that both of the cars in the driveway belong to them.”

Chen checked his watch for the umpteenth time, knowing that they had a very small timeframe to operate within. T.O.P had texted them an hour ago to inform them that Key would be deploying Mir and Zion, two of the mafia’s master thieves, and Xiumin and Narsha, two members of the cleanup crew, to the residence at midnight. That gave Chen and Lay about four hours to successfully kill their targets. He silently cursed Key for cutting their time shorter and shorter with every passing moment. The Executive Lieutenant had reduced their original twenty-four hour timeframe to six hours with all of his ridiculous requests.

Nightfall soon arrived, causing Chen and Lay to don black clothing in order to blend in again. Lights within the residence they were spying on and Chen felt like tearing out his hair from waiting for so long. “This is the worst mission ever. We have absolutely no information on their lifestyles or movement patterns. Nothing has happened for the last three hours. How are we supposed to kill them if we do not know who we are even dealing with?!”

“I am just as frustrated as you are by the lack of preparation Key and T.O.P gave us,” Lay replied, placing a firm hand on Chen’s shoulder to calm the hot-headed, younger male. “It is unfortunate that this mission was given to us on such short notice. But we cannot tarnish our perfect record now.” He rummaged through the black carryon bag that was sitting beside him and handed a round object to his partner. “If they do not come out in the next half hour, then we will have to use this to flush them out.”

Chen nodded as he took the round ball from Lay’s hand. “I will position myself in the bushes. Wait for my signal.” The younger male deftly shouldered his rifle and leapt from the roof, landing silently and squarely on his feet. He snuck onto the target’s property and found a large hedge that was hollow enough to fit the small man.

Time slowly passed until the half hour was up. Chen had spotted a chimney earlier while the two assassins were waiting for their targets, so he nimbly scaled the house to the roof when it was time to put their plan into action. With the round object in his left hand, he used his right hand to noiselessly remove the grate covering the top of the chimney. He then used his dim flashlight to ensure that nothing in the chimney was blocking the bottom before tossing the round ball down. He flashed his light at the roof where Lay was, who flashed a light back in response.

Chen quickly jumped down from the rooftop and returned to his hiding spot within the hedge. His gun was loaded and ready as he watched the inside of the house fill with a light-purple poisonous fog that the chemists from the mafia’s laboratory had created. “Any second now,” he muttered under his breath, keeping his gun aimed at the entrance.

And just as planned, the door to the residence was flung open as two figures immediately ran out. “I-it must b-be him,” the woman coughed out. The man had his arms wrapped around her as he escorted her down the steps that led to the front door.

Chen squinted as he aimed for the man, who must be Kim Heechul. He and Lay had already discussed who would be killing who while they were on the roof together. With his finger on the trigger, he whispered into the microphone clipped on his shirt collar, “Now.” And Chen fired a silent bullet from his rifle, instantly killing the man with a headshot.

Jiyoon and Heechul simultaneously crumpled to the floor, meaning Lay had successfully sniped the woman at the same time that Chen had shot the man. Crawling out of the bush, Chen smirked as he surveyed the unmoving corpses lying on the pebble path between the gate of the residence to the house’s front door. Pushing the button on his microphone, he and Lay spoke at the same time.

“Mission complete.”
“Mission complete.”

♈♈♈